City Waits For State Action

May 28, 1999

Emergency medical service in Hartford is inadequate, and state efforts to improve it are so slow that grandstanding at city hall could help.

In what essentially is a symbolic move, the city council last week approved a resolution asking the state to revoke the American Medical Response ambulance company's lifetime license to handle medical emergencies in Hartford.

The power to force AMR to improve its response time to emergency calls rests with the state, which licenses ambulance companies.

An investigation by The Courant in March found that AMR has steadily stretched response times beyond the eight-minute industry standard and often failed to meet an obligation to devote six ambulances in Hartford to 911 calls. In fact, AMR ambulances sometimes don't answer emergency calls because they are responding to the more lucrative non-emergency business covered by insurance plans.

The council resolution was nothing more than a call for help at a critical political time. Legislators are considering a bill that would require the public health department to monitor ambulance response times. Companies that consistently fail to meet the standard could be penalized. The bill was stalled briefly over an amendment to make the exclusive ``primary-service area'' licenses renewable every three years, instead of leaving them open-ended. AMR opposed the amendment.

The council resolution also comes in during an antitrust investigation into AMR's business practices by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. AMR, the billion-dollar company with 5,000 vehicles in 39 states, holds lifetime licenses in one-third of the municipalities in Connecticut.

The council's hands are tied until either the legislature or Mr. Blumenthal acts. Without competition from other ambulance companies or the ability to penalize AMR when help fails to arrive on time, any agreement the city negotiates would be unenforceable.

The state should act soon. Until then, the council hasn't much of a choice but to kick up a fuss.